Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: nclonghunter on October 30, 2013, 10:05:34 am

Title: NC Tree ID
Post by: nclonghunter on October 30, 2013, 10:05:34 am
This tree is close to my deer stand and I am trying to figure out what it is. The leaves are changing colors and mostly gone but they appear to be a football shape. They also do not appear to be like a walnut or locust type leaves, where they are opposite of each other in a row.

Any ideas?
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: blackhawk on October 30, 2013, 10:36:52 am
The grey smoother barked one is american beech,and I see some beech leaves from another tree on the edge of your pic? The brown furrowed bark one shows no leaves for it? Which tree are you a asking about?
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: nclonghunter on October 30, 2013, 11:02:52 am
There are Beech all around there. Its the deep reddish bark tree I do not know about. There are no leaves low enough to get one. Tried to see one drop and get it. After posting it looks more like a young shag bark hickory, but the bark has a reddish tint like a Hemlock.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: PEARL DRUMS on October 30, 2013, 01:32:01 pm
Looks like basswood kind of. Im certain its not a shagbark.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: Buck67 on October 30, 2013, 04:55:40 pm
Persimmon?
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: RyanR on October 30, 2013, 06:14:16 pm
Pretty tough to determine without a leaf. Does it have any fruit or nuts?  What part of NC are you from?  I spent a few years down there in Jacksonville and up in the Raleigh area.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: mcginnis6010 on October 30, 2013, 08:20:18 pm
Maybe pignut hickory? Kinda looks like the ones growing around here.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: Pat B on October 30, 2013, 08:58:40 pm
Sassafras. What color are the leaves








Sassafras has thtree leaf shapes. One is oval, one is oval with a single lobe and the third has two lobes. In the fall the leaves turn yellow to orange and are pretty bright.








.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: Dalton Knapper on October 30, 2013, 10:12:19 pm
I too was thinking sassafras. Easy way to tell - stick a knife in the bark and smell. If one knows about trees, another help would be to  ell us if the tree had simple leaves, compound leaves or what, but you would have to look those terms up. Other clues include the way the branches come off the tree, up, straight out, etc. Another clue is if the branches are opposite each other, alternating or what. That's all part of Tree ID.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: mcginnis6010 on October 30, 2013, 11:44:16 pm
He said the leaves are football shaped so i don't think it eould be sassafras. But yea without a pic of the leaves it would be pretty hard to tell.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: RyanR on October 31, 2013, 05:26:36 pm
Some of the sassafras leaves on my trees are football shaped. Sassafras is easy to tell by the strong smell when you bust off a branch. Smells good.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: mcginnis6010 on October 31, 2013, 06:59:38 pm
Yea i love sassafras i make sassafras tea every once in awhile. Delicious ;D
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: Dalton Knapper on October 31, 2013, 11:13:38 pm
Not that this is sassafras, but sassafras exhibits what is called a "dimorphic" leaf pattern. Some leaves will be simple ovate, some will be mitts (like a mitt glove) and some will be triple lobed. That's sassafras. Regardless, the smell of leaf, bark or branch will give it away. New branches will be green. It can be a large tree or a bush.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: mcginnis6010 on October 31, 2013, 11:19:53 pm
Yea i got tons of it growing in the woods behind the house.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: nclonghunter on October 31, 2013, 11:45:18 pm
I have dug and pulled plenty of sassafras and I do not believe it is one. Most I have dug were only head tall, so it being a 30 ft tall tree could be different. I could not see any lobed leaves on the tree. I took a cell phone picture that is not the best, but what I have to work with.

Thanks for the replies, I have been looking a tree images trying to confirm the ID. No luck yet, but maybe this picture will help.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: nclonghunter on October 31, 2013, 11:54:31 pm
I just looked for sassafras bark images and I am now believing it is sassafras. Most of the leaves have fallen and I did not see any lobed leaves, but I still think you guys got it right....Thanks for the help
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: Pat B on November 01, 2013, 12:10:05 am
Most of sassafras leaves are lobed so there should be plenty of them under the tree. Also if you crush fresh leaves they have a lemony smell. Sassafras not only has 3 leaf shapes but also three distinct smells; the leaves, the roots and the wood.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: Hillbilly on November 03, 2013, 01:18:36 pm
I'm pretty familiar with most of the trees in NC, and I can't hang a name on that one from the pics. It's not sassafras. If I could see it in person or get a better close-up photo of the twigs and leaves, I might be able to tell you. The bark looks closest to black willow, mulberry, or eastern cottonwood, but the leaves from what I can see in the photo look like none of the above. It could also be a non-native escape.
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: nclonghunter on November 03, 2013, 09:22:03 pm
Hillbilly, the tree does not have any branches until high up and few leaves are remaing. None are lobed that I could see. It is a fairly straight tree but leaning some. I just looked at the bark of a Sourwood and its leaves which look close. Sourwoods I have seen have been darker bark, but I think it could be....
Title: Re: NC Tree ID
Post by: Hillbilly on November 04, 2013, 10:16:25 am
Doesn't really look like a sourwood either. Their bark is more deeply grooved than shaggy, and the leaves are longer and narrower than the ones in the pic. Sourwoods still have this year's dead blooms/seeds on them now, too at the end of the twigs. How big are the leaves on this tree?